


Guardian of the Miraculous

by Theonewhosawitall



Series: Kwamis and Their Charges [3]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Forced Bonding, Friendship, Grief/Mourning, Minor Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-03
Updated: 2018-02-09
Packaged: 2019-03-13 04:39:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 17,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13563009
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Theonewhosawitall/pseuds/Theonewhosawitall
Summary: Master Fu has died, leaving behind Wayzz, Ladybug, Chat Noir, and a box full of miraculouses that are in desperate need of protection from Hawkmoth. Ladybug and Chat Noir need to find someone new to look after the box (and Wayzz) so they don't need to worry about them being set free across Paris.But who can they trust with such a responsibility?and how will they get along with Wayzz?





	1. Chapter 1

Tears rolled over Ladybug's mask as she hugged the box close to her chest. She wrapped her arms around it like it was the most important thing on earth and in many ways it was. Having held it close all morning it was beginning to cut into her arms but she was too numb to feel anything yet. Chat Noir patted down the earth gently and carefully laid a rose on top. He took a step back to stand with Ladybug. She had a ball in her throat but the tears that rolled down her cheeks were silent and constant. She kept staring at the dirt in disbelief, frozen to her space, protectively clinging the box and trying to clear her mind to figure out what the hell they could do next.

"Who..." Chat gulped as his voice croaked. Soft as his tone was, in the silence of the hilltop graveyard, it seemed to fill the air around them. Other than the rain hitting the ground and Ladybug's snuffling, the silence was aching. Chat cleared his throat and tried again. "Who was he?"

Ladybug closed her eyes and yet another shimmering tear rolled down her cheeks. She took a deep, shaky breath, but her voice was strangled by the ball. Wayzz pressed a fin against her chin gently, to let her know he could handle this. He was used to losing his charges, he'd had hundreds in the centuries he lived, but that didn’t make the pain any easier.

"He was my Master. Master Fu. Last guardian of the miraculous... a title that now passes to you Ladybug," Wayzz said, seriously.

She bowed her head and squeezed the box tighter. Chat gulped again. His ears were low against his head, and he had no idea what was going on. When Ladybug had called him in tears he instantly agreed to help her. However burying a body in a secret hilltop graveyard miles south of Paris in the persistent drizzle with no help from Ladybug who was too shaken up to help, was not what he expected to be doing with his day.

"Master Fu? That was his name?" Chat repeated, urgently. He wanted to know why he recognised the man he had just buried. Master Fu wasn’t a name he knew, but he wanted to.

"Yes. I believe you only met him once," Wayzz nodded slowly.

"I helped him up when he fell once. A long time ago," Chat said, quietly.

"I helped him cross the road..." Ladybug whispered.

Chat turned to look at her in mild surprise. This was the first thing she’d said in almost three hours, and he wasn’t expecting her to say anything. he was used to talking for the two of them at times, when she was too mad or upset to talk. Usually though she shrugged it off and went home without speaking. Now she needed to speak. For herself as well as for him. crossing the road was important.

"And then he gave each of you your miraculous. Without him Paris would have no heroes," Wayzz explained.

"Did he give Rena her miraculous? Rena Rouge?" Chat asked, curiously.

"Her miraculous came from Master Fu, but he didn't give it to her," Wayzz said.

Before Chat could ask who had given Rena her miraculous, Ladybug drew her shoulders back and stared straight ahead of her as she said, "I did."

His eyes widened. "You?"

"We needed help. My lucky charm told me to come to him for help. I wasn’t supposed to visit him. It wasn't safe..." Ladybug bowed her head again, aching inside.

"Then why did you visit him today?" Chat asked, eager to keep her from slipping back into silence.

"I asked her to. Hawkmoth will be after Master Fu's body, in case he hid anything on himself before his death. A box of miraculouses for example. This graveyard is full of past heroes hidden away for our safety. A past Ladybug was buried here," Wayzz said, thoughtfully.

Chat’s eyebrows shot up with interest, "Really? Who?"

"I believe her name was Joan of Arc," Wayzz said, softly.

"Damn! Nice name drop," Chat grinned. Ladybug and Wayzz turned to look at him like he had punched a baby, and his ears drooped guiltily, “Inappropriate, right, sorry..."

Ladybug rolled her eyes. even at a funeral Chat was hopeless, but at least he was there. at least she wasn’t alone. She sniffed, trying to push aside her pain and focus on what had to be done. "What do we do now Wayzz?"

"You become guardian of the miraculouses, and study the book to learn more about them," Wayzz explained.

"But I gave the book back to Mr Agreste," Ladybug reminded him, urgently.

Chat Noir’s eyes widened and his heart missed a beat, "Huh?!"

"It’s a long story. A friend of mine, Adrien, he had a book of heroes that Lila stole to learn about Volpina - Rena Rouge - and become her. I stole it because Tikki told me to, but now Gabriel Agreste has it again," Ladybug explained.

Chat’s heart beat hard and terrified. This was a lot to take in. Ladybug knew Adrien as a civilian. She had stolen the book of heroes that he had stolen from his father and caused Lila to turn into an akuma because of it… and now they needed that book back to learn how to take care of this box of all the different miraculouses, and – oh yeah – this new kwami was telling them they had to take care of all the miraculouses because the man they’d just buried died! It was a lot to take in. a lot.

"Master Fu took photos. They're on his tablet. When we return to Paris you can take it. He has no more need for it..." Wayzz said.

His voice was becoming heavy now. heavy and quiet. Wayzz was so tiny that Adrien wondered how on earth he could manage to keep in all that pain. Chat stepped forward and lowered his voice to the kwami that was hanging low in the air, too sad to hover any higher.

"Wayzz, do you want a minute alone to say goodbye?"

Wayzz closed his eyes and shook his head. "He cannot hear me…"

"Sometimes just hearing yourself is enough," Chat whispered.

Wayzz gulped hard. He’d been alive for millennia. Seen empires rise and fall, people learn to sail and fly, forests grow where swamps once stood, forests chopped aside for cities of cement, civilisations that spoke in long dead tongues, and the death of a thousand species at least. Humanity were still babies to him. a single human life time was but a blink of an eye to him. Nothing. like a fly. And yet Master Fu was the longest to stick around. Over a century of stubborn wilfulness and desire to speak in riddles just to confuse people. Long enough for Wayzz to fool himself into thinking this one was going to stick around... Wayzz had known Mater Fu for a minute of his lifetime, but he felt the loss so heavily that his entire body became his shell. Hard and impenetrable.  
at least he wished it would.  
because he had never felt so fragile and breakable inside.

"Please... if you'd be so kind... just a minute or two," Wayzz muttered.

Chat bowed his head respectfully and stepped back to place a hand on Ladybug's shoulder. "We'll be over here."

Chat guided Ladybug towards the base of a large, leafless old oak that looked more like a skeleton of what once had been a tree than an actual tree. Ladybug's arms moved away from the edges of the box. If she were transformed this would have revealed deep pink gouges in her arms where the edges of the box dug in.

"This is a lot to take in. I knew you and I had miraculouses, and Hawkmoth I guess, and Rena, sure, but, like, how many actually are there?!" Chat asked gently.

"Err I dunno," Ladybug's voice choked a little, "Master Fu said there were hundreds, but this box only has about twenty or so. Even then some are missing."

She was sniffing still, and he felt his heart go out to her. He didn’t know who this guy was or why he mattered so much to Ladybug, but he hated to see her hurt. "Are you ok?"

"There wasn't... enough time... " Ladybug's voice held out since she couldn't bring herself to let it all sink in yet, but it was getting weaker, "there was so much I still had to learn... so much he still had to teach me...."

"I'm sorry Ladybug," he whispered.

"It’s more than that though Chat," she said. She turned to face him and his heart broke a little more. He'd never seen her so lost and afraid. Not even when they'd first met. It was daunting. "Kwamis live forever... Tikki's been around almost as long as the universe... she must have lost so many different Ladybug's and she's so sweet and so lovely I bet she still feels the loss of every single one of them... and I'm doing to die too Chat... one day, sooner or later, I'm going to die too. I'm going to die and she's going to be alone and she's going to be hurt... I don’t want to hurt her," Ladybug's voice finally broke down into a desperate cry as she said, " _I don’t want her to be alone_!"

Ladybug was always so strong that seeing her like this was like the first time you see your parents break down. He was chasing her so long that she'd become an icon. Now he was facing what she was. A person. Scared and fragile and in desperate need of a hug. Chat Noir immediately gathered her up into his arms. She buried her face into his shoulder, sobbing so hard at the idea of leaving Tikki that it racked through her entire body. One arm was wrapped around her waist pulling her closer against him, and the other tangled in her hair to stroke her head gently. He pressed his face against her head, holding her up like he had the very first day they met. The box ended up pinned between them.  
Neither noticed.  
Chat hadn’t thought about Plagg's past much. Between his father, his school, his work and Ladybug, he took Plagg for granted. But he'd been around since the dawn of time. The things he must have seen, the people he must have known, the things he must have done, and Adrien paid it no mind. Every time he looked at his kwami he saw his friend. His grumpy sarcastic cheese loving kitty kwami friend. Maybe he was always grumpy because he was trying to keep himself detached. If he loved too much and still lost him, like he would, maybe it'd hurt that much more. Maybe it always did...

"She won’t be alone Ladybug. I promise you I won't let her be alone," Chat promised, softly.

He was do desperate to calm her and ensure that she stopped breathing like there was something tacky fluttering in her throat, that he didn’t bother with his usual puns. This was too important.

"Kitty, I love you, but you're just a boy. You can’t make that promise," Ladybug sniffed.

Chat winced, and he was grateful that his face was over her shoulder and out of view right now. She didn’t need to worry about hurting him right now, because that was too much. She didn't need a kid with a crush. She needed her partner. A friend. He pushed all Romance out of him.

"If you go before me, I'll look after Tikki. Just like if I go before you, you'll look after Plagg," he promised.

"What if we both die at the same time? If you hold both miraculouses you can change the universe Chat... what if Hawkmoth kills us and takes them, and she's still and forced to work for him?" Ladybug sniffed.

"She won’t be alone. She'll have Plagg. Just like you have me and I have you. Two sides of the same coin remember? No matter what happens, Plagg and Tikki will always have each other," Chat promised.

Ladybug pulled back for a moment, surprised this thought hadn’t come to her before. "You think?"

"I hope so. Someone needs to keep that cat in check!" Chat smiled.

Ladybug forced a smile back. She laid her head back against his chest and wrapped her arms under his to squeeze him back. Chat's hand ran down her hair gently. The fact that she could trust him enough to be this vulnerable around him would later make him proud. Now though, he was busy aching at her pain. Wayzz cleared his throat to draw their attention. He had never seemed so small and yet so wise before.

He closed his eyed and said, solemnly, "I'm ready."

"Ok..." ladybug's arms slipped away from Chat as she wiped her eyes on her sleeve and turned to face him. "Ready for what?"

"I shall return to my bracelet within this box until I am needed again."

Chat hadn't noticed the jade bracelet the kwami was clinging to yet. I guess carrying a corpse across Paris before the break of dawn is a little distracting. Now though he noticed that, and the way Ladybug choked in protest.

" _I need you_! You're the only one who knows anything anymore!"

Wayzz chuckled softly. His yellow eyes were tinged orange and puffed from tears. No matter what she tried to argue, he knew he had to return to his miraculous, and wait for his next charge to need him.

"You have a miraculous. You cannot hold two. It's not safe," He explained, calmly.

"See, how will I know that if you’re not there?! I'm super clumsy, what if I leave my window open, trip with the box and it goes out the window?! Then it smashes on the street and one of them falls down the gutter and- what's so funny?!"

Ladybug huffed in frustration as the little turtle continued to chuckle as if he was amused by the desperation in her tone.

"After all you have done, all the people you have saved, you still don't have much confidence of yourself," Wayzz said, smiling.

Ladybug's shoulders sagged. "I know my civilian self. I can't have this responsibility, something will go wrong!"

"I can't either. My house is not secure," Chat chimed in before anyone asked. A thought had occurred to him that made him consider against that though. "Wayzz, if you know Master Fu gave us our miraculous, do you know who we are behind the mask?"

Ladybug turned her head to raise an eyebrow at him. He knew they couldn’t know who one another was. Interrogating a grieving kwami was not a path she wanted followed.

"I do," Wayzz nodded.

"Then you understand why I can't take the box," Chat said.

Ladybug silently sighed, relieved that Chat hadn't been trying to fish for information, and a little ashamed that she had automatically assumed the worst.

"I do. Ladybug, someone responsible and wise needs to take this. Someone we can trust beyond all else. The girl you chose to become Rena, can she do it?" Wayzz asked.

Ladybug was hardly listening when she said "No..." simply out of fear of the miraculous box ended up (accidentally or otherwise) on the Lady blog. Marinette had a sneaking suspicion that Hawkmoth made use of the blog. After all, if there was a constantly updated live-streaming blog dedicated to him and his actions and finding out his identity, they'd use it to track him down. If Alya ended up in danger, one miraculous would save her, but twenty could doom her. Although it sounded more than a little selfish to her that she was worrying about one person when the whole of Paris was in danger at the moment, so that wasn’t the reason Ladybug used.

"No she has little sisters who get into everything and they'll find them," she said.

"Is there anyone you can trust?" Wayzz asked, a little desperate too now.

Chat tapped his chin with his claw as all of them thought hard to think of someone - anyone in Paris, that they could trust with this secret. Alya was out, Adrien decided, because she too had naughty little sisters who would probably find the box and investigate and release every single kwami into the streets of Paris. Not something worth risking. His house had the book and to be perfectly honest, he wasn’t willing to talk to his father about where the _book_ came from and how he got his hands on it, so he didn’t want him to ask where the _box_ came from or how he got his hands on that.  
There was only one person he could think of who seemed perfect for this kind of responsibility. Although he didn't want to put the weight of this much responsibility on his shoulders, no one else even came close.

"Well..." Chat cleared his throat slightly, "I might know someone..."

Nino pulled his headphones down from his head when that distant thumping wouldn't stop. He turned towards the source of the interruption and blinked in surprise as Ladybug and Chat Noir dangling at his window, with a box and a tablet. Something big was going to happen now, and he had an awful feeling he wasn't going to be allowed to tell Alya about it.


	2. Chapter 2

"So, let me get this straight," Nino scratched at his hair, messing it up so even his hair was as tangled as his thoughts at all this new and ridiculous information thrust upon him. "An old man called Master Fu pretended to be in need of help, so as civilians you helped him, and then he broke into your rooms to leave boxes of jewellery for you to find. Each one contained a miraculous stone hidden inside the jewellery, and inside the stone, there was an ultimate source of power that manifests in a living being called a kwami, which can transform you into a hero or - in Hawkmoth's case - a villain. Now Master Fu has died and you need someone to watch over the other sources of ultimate power in case Paris explodes and you need back up. This person but also attempt to figure out what the photos on this tablet mean, despite them being in an ancient and dead language, and keep the box of miraculouses safe from Hawkmoth should be ever come looking for them, all the whiling keeping his responsibilities a secret from _everyone_ in his life because it's dangerous... is that the jist of it?"

"Um, yeah?" Chat's hand found the back of his neck sheepishly.

"And on top of that, to keep it secret, I'd have to keep being my civilian self, doing homework, attending class, helping friends, being a DJ, so no one suspects anything, despite the fact that every now and then Ladybug might drop by to get more information on what's going on with your kwami. Tikki, was it?" Nino raised an eyebrow.

"Pretty much, yeah," Ladybug said, apologetically.

"Well that sounds simple enough!" Nino snarked.

"Really?!" Chat asked, surprised by hopeful.

Nino leapt to his feet with a manic glint in his eyes, "Are you crazy?! No dude! No its not simple! What the hell made you think I could do this?!"

"Because..." chat glanced at Ladybug. He couldn't exactly tell the full truth right now, not with her staring, so he had to lie. "The blog girl, Alya, you know her?"

"A little," Nino said, sarcastically.

Both ladybug and Chat Noir rolled their eyes at the sarcasm. They didn't really have time for the dramatics, even if they were justified given what they'd just dumped on his shoulders.

"She told me about you. That you work hard to keep things fair for people, and you care about your friends and family deeply, and you can keep a secret even if it means upsetting someone who simply cannot know," Chat explained.

Ladybug had no argument with that. He had become the Bubbler because it wasn’t fair Adrien didn’t get a party, he had stayed up until the early hours of the morning on the phone with her because she was freaking out about a project she hadn't finished, and he was an expert when it came to surprise parties. But he was Nino. He'd throw himself into this with all his heart and it'd twist him up inside to have to keep a secret from Alya or lie to his family if they asked about the box. They could trust him implicitly, but she didn’t want to put him in a situation she found frustrating, just to keep themselves safe.

"How do you expect me to understand a long dead language?" Nino demanded.

"It’s not that long dead!" chat urged.

Honestly it wasn’t. It had died with Master Fu not ten hours ago. Ladybug sighed she pushed past Chat Noir and reached over to pull Nino's shoulder gently towards her so he had to look her in the eye.

"Nino, I know this is a lot to ask, but we'll reward you for it," she promised.

Nino shook his head, not fully taking this in either, "Reward me?"

Ladybug wandered over to his desk, pulled a smaller box from her pocket, and placed it on top of the larger matching box. She pressed a finger on top of it and turned back to the baffled boy.

"This is Wayzz."

Nino blinked slowly, glancing between the box she was pointing at, and her face. He wandered over, cautiously, to examine it, too fearful to touch it yet. He straightened up to look at her again.

"This is a box."

Ladybug ignored this and continued explaining, calmly, "Wayzz is a kwami. He is currently in this bracelet in this box. Open the box and he'll be released."

Nino's eyebrows shot up as his eyes widened. "Awesome!"

"He is the only kwami who was free when the guardians fell. Everything Master Fu knew, Wayzz knew. But being a many millennia year old kwami, Wayzz knows a lot more than just what's in that book," Ladybug continued.

Chat Noir hadn't known Wayzz long, he barely knew anything about him, but he knew one thing that Nino needed to know too. "He won't be happy about this situation, because he says we should try and find any remaining guardians online and track them down, but there's very little chance they're in France, let alone Paris and we need to be able to visit them."

"So he won't like me?" Nino frowned.

Chat Noir shrugged a little, "You'll have to build up his trust, but that’s true of all relationships, right?"

Nino turned to look at him, and then immediately turned to Ladybug. "And you'll be visiting my house often? Isn't that going to be suspicious?"

"Maybe. Or maybe we'll end up meeting somewhere private out of the way, to stay hidden out of view, right bugaboo," Chat said.

"Sure."

When she didn’t react to the nickname she claimed to hate Chat raised an eyebrow and turned to look at her, surprised, but his face fell when he realised she wasn’t fully listening. Ladybug's eyes were fixed on the box that she was still resting her hand on top of. She wondered if they were giving away too much information to someone who wouldn't want to work with them in the end. Any more information and he would know too much to give him a choice. She dragged her gaze from the box to Nino.

"I know it's a big ask Nino. And an even bigger secret. But you'll be a part of us. An important part of our team. You'll be protecting both of us, as well as Rena Rouge, and any other hero we may need in the future. Even if no one else ever knows, you'll know that Paris is safe, because of you."

Nino wrinkled his nose and groaned uncertainly. It all sounded good, if difficult, but lying to Alya was hard, and upsetting her would be deadly. It'd just be easier if he could tell her, because otherwise it was going to be hard to face her. And sneaking out somewhere private at lord knows what time, with lord knows what information, it would be hard.

But saving Paris?

Working behind the scenes to keep Ladybug and Chat Noir in the loop, meeting Rena Rouge, knowing when another hero was going to join the ranks before anyone else in the city, and knowing more about their powers than anyone, even them? He couldn’t just refuse the chance. Offers like this don't come around twice.

"Can I have some time to think about it?" he asked, uncertainty.

Ladybug and Chat Noir shared an urgent look of uncertainty. They couldn't tell him not to take his time, it was a tough choice, they were asking him to give up his childhood like they had. Of course he had a choice. They were chosen. Ladybug felt Chats nerve just he did. She was supposed to be the strong one. The smart one. The one who knew what to do next. Right now she had no idea what to do, or how to stop this from happening, because Nino deserved better. They all did.  
Unfortunately they didn't have better.  
They had kwamis, and responsibilities, and secrets - so many secrets!   
Things were just so much harder with secrets, and they were about to dump a load on Nino's head. All if this was beginning to feel so incredibly unfair.

Seconds had passed, but they felt like hours of silence. Chat coughed uncertainly, drawing the focus to himself. "Of course you can, but don't take long. We'll leave these things here for you to decide, and we'll come back tomorrow to collect them."

"Nino even if you decide not to take this on, no one can know what we've asked from you today," ladybug warned.

"I won’t tell anyone, I swear. I wouldn't. I couldn't," Nino insisted.

"Not even Alya?" Ladybug warned.

"I wouldn't. Not that she'd ever believe me anyway! This is super insane, and crazy awesome, and she'd never believe me!" Nino gave a strangled laugh. He was more nervous and confused than he let on.

Ladybug smiled to herself. She wouldn't bet on that. Alya would probably believe a lot more than he would think.

she looked up at Chat. Chat Noir glanced up and met her eye. Now she wasn’t responsible for Wayzz or the box, she was less worried about everything. Her shoulders eased and she seemed more like herself again. The corner of Chat's mouth twitched up. He was relieved that she was feeling more at ease. It felt like things were free to go back to normal now, even if they couldn't for Nino.

"Ready to go bugaboo?" Chat asked.

Ladybug took a deep breath and nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, I am."

Chat smiled. Two bugaboos in one day and she still hadn’t protested. Maybe it was the stress and grief, or maybe it was because they were finally growing closer, but he wasn’t going to complain. He stepped up onto the windowsill and looked back to wait for her.

"Look, Wayzz will be able to contact us, so if you have questions or doubts or you wanna tell me you're ready to take it or, or than you d-don’t wanna take it on um..." she said.

"I'll call you if I have any reason to," Nino promised.

"Right. And, um, Nino, when you open that box, tell Wayzz I said it was only for one night so he can put up with it," Ladybug said.

Nino nodded obediently. Ladybug looked back down at the box that she had been clinging to all day. Now she had to walk away and leave it with someone new. They ended up only two rooftops over, before she looked back to Nino's bedroom window, back to the box on his desk. Even though she knew she could trust him it was hard to hand over the responsibility.   
Paris was hanging in the balance.   
Chat's hand brushed against her so subtly she barely noticed. His fingers curled against her palm and the brush of his claws made her look up. Her brilliant blues met his emerald greens, and he gave her the most reassuring smile he could muster.

"Nino's got it covered. He's a great guy. He won’t let us down," he insisted.

"You sure?" She asked anxiously.

"Paw-sitive," he nodded.

She risked a smile at his bad pun. She looked away as she did and he smiled proudly that he could make her smile. Today had been hectic, but at least he had been there. Having a partner to be there for her when she needed him on and off the battlefield was something she hadn’t known she needed. But she was grateful for that. For him. Ladybug nudged him gently.

"Hey thanks for being there today. I really needed you, and I'm glad you could come through," she smiled gratefully.

"Absolutely buggy! You can rely on me!" He insisted, smirking.

She nudged him again, laughing, "I know that!" The certainty in her voice made him smile. He really was proud to know that he was the first person his lady called when she needed someone. Although they were partners. It came with the job. Even so - it's just nice to have it confirmed, y'know?"

"Yeah, I know," he said softly.

Ladybug wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. "Thanks kitty."

His mouth formed an O shape in surprise, and his cheeks turned pink under his mask, but he fought through it to wrap his arms around her torso to hug her back.

"Any time you need me bugaboo," he muttered.

Ladybug knew that. Any time she needed Chat Noir, he was there. he proved it time and time again. If he ever needed her, she was there too. At least she tried to be. That's what partners were for, right?  
Now Paris didn’t need her anymore (whether or not they knew they had) she suddenly felt the weight of her grief and guilt and exercise crash down on her in instant exhaustion. She yawned into Chat's shoulder. Clearly her body knew she was exhausted before she did because she was so ready to collapse she was practically laying on Chat Noir. Chat held her upright, but the growing weight was hard to keep holding onto.

"Hey, want me to carry you home?" He asked softly.

"No, no, I'm fine," she muttered.

Her arms were slipping from around his neck to against his chest without her noticing. He found he couldn't bring himself to raise his voice above a whisper. "Sure?"

"Yeah, yeah I'm - I'm fine," she paused to yawn again.

Chat smiled softly to himself as she struggled to keep her eyes open against his chest. "Sure. I'm gonna carry you anyway, for my peace of mind, ok?"

Ladybug yawned again. Her eyes were completely shut now and her nod was so small it was almost unnoticed, yet her voice was like a murmur. "Ok..."

Chat scooped her up into a bridal lift. She adjusted herself to snuggle against his chest, trying to steal his warmth. He would have walked across the artic if it kept her warm. With each stride across the rooves, the breeze ran across her, and he rocked her softly. Apart from the muted noise of the city below, the only things they could hear was him running and landing on each new rooftop. It was an odd feeling to be carried across the city by her partner. She trusted him implicitly and melted into his grip as easily as she had when he carried her as Marinette. Ladybug could easily have slipped off to sleep against him.  
From Chat's perspective, there was something comfortable and yet surreal about holding her like this. Cradled against him. Trusting him completely. He could feel her slipping off to sleep, clearly comforted by being close to him. He was comforted by the warmth of her cheek on his chest, so much so that he didn't mind his heart beating fast enough to make his chest hurt. Whether or not she could hear that hurried heartbeat he didn’t know. If she could, he hoped it made her feel peaceful.

Chat Noir didn’t want this to end. The colour of the sky was fading away and the star were beginning to peer down on the rooftops. Against the navy of the sky a dark shape swept above the city, carrying someone in his arms. Had anyone seen him from below, they would have assumed Chat was out on patrol. Only he knew he was standing in the breeze on the chimney pots above the city of love with his love sleeping peacefully in his arms. Her soft sleepy smile melted his heart.  
It was hard to think this was the same girl who had been sobbing her eyes out three hours ago.  
Chat knew how much that raw emotional breakdown could tear through you, and how exhausting that could be. Ladybug was in desperate need of sleep. Plus he was in love with the situation he had found himself in. He wasn't about to wake her up to point out that he had no idea where she lived or where he was heading, but his arms were beginning to ache now. There was only one safe place that he thought he could take her right now.  
A little rooftop not far away from his friend’s bakery.   
Chat Noir landed on the rooftop, and cradled her closer against him, out of sight. It was cold, she was exhausted. Plagg had been complaining about being tired for half an hour now, and Ladybug had been transformed for longer than he had. He was amazed her kwami could hold on so long. Then, inevitably, her earrings beeped.  
Reluctantly Chat nudged her awake. She whined as she slowly blinked.

"C-Chat Noir?" She mumbled, confused, "what are you doing here? Where is here?"

She looked around in confusion. Her balcony was in the distance. She could just about see it through her blurry vision.

"Your miraculous is beeping. I'm sorry I couldn't take you all the way home, but I don’t know where you live," Chat explained, quietly.

"Oh... I can... I can take it from here," she said, pushing herself to her feet.

The moment she moved from him he felt a rush of cold from her absent heat. His arms felt far too light and he wasn’t sure what to do with them now.

"I could take you the rest of the-"

"No. No... it's not time..."

Chat's chest tightened. It wasn’t like he'd expected anything different. So much had changed already, if she was ever going to tell him, it wouldn't be on a day like this. It would be too much. Yet for some reason he was a little disappointed.

"Ok. Call me in the morning, yeah? So I know you're ok," Chat said.

"I'll call you, and we can go to Nino together," she nodded.

"Yeah..." he said. She wouldn’t meet his eye now. Maybe she felt embarrassed about sleeping in his arms. It hurt a little, but he didn't press it. "Bye bugaboo."

"Night kitty," she muttered. She glanced back towards him and for a moment, in the shine of the Eiffel tower he thought he could see a blush on her cheeks. The last thing she said before leaping from the roof was, "Don't call me bugaboo."

Two steps forward, one step back. Ah well. At least it was progress.

…

Ladybug and Chat Noir had been gone for all of a minute when Nino lifted the smaller box as hesitantly as he would a shard of glass. It was easy enough to lift, it weighed next to nothing, like most jewellery boxes. Somehow, he was expecting the magic inside to weigh it down. Despite how ancient it looked, it opened with ease, even with Nino wincing the whole time. He barely caught a glimpse of the jade triangle etched with turtles before a blinding ball of lime green light rose from the box.  
Nino cried out in alarm and snatched his hand back to shield his eyes. He wrapped his arms around his head in fear, throwing his hat and the box out of his grip. The box clattered to the floor first. The light got brighter for a moment, like lightning was filling the room, before vanishing altogether.   
In the new darkness Nino's heart thundered anxiously. He had no idea what he was getting himself into, and now the sunspots in his vision were telling him it was _way_ out of his depth. He stayed frozen for a moment, arms wrapped around his head to cover his eyes. Maybe if he didn’t move he would wake up and this would all have vanished. It could all be a really weird dream...  
His heart beat harder when he heard a tiny voice clear its throat.  
His arm shaking and dotted with goosebumps, Nino lowered one arm. Now he could see, he glanced around his room, hesitantly, hoping his mind was playing tricks on him again. Then he spotted him.   
A tiny green turtle, with large yellow eyes, tinged orange like it had been crying, hovered in the air before him, holding up his red cap.

"You dropped this."

Nino opened his mouth to scream or thank him or ask one of the million questions becoming a hurricane in his mind. Nothing came out. He stood like a statue, gaping at the little turtle, unable to find his voice. Wayzz tilted his head, baffled. It wasn’t that Wayzz hadn't been slightly expecting this kind of reaction, but before Master Fu he had worked with Guardians for over a million years. None of them were exactly shocked by kwamis given that most of them were born in the guardian camp, usually by a kwami holder, to become a guardian. And Marinette wasn’t shocked by him because she was used to Tikki.  
Basically it had been a _really_ long time since someone freaked out because of him.

"Um, I'm going to just put this here, is that ok?" Wayzz asked, gently placing the hat on his DJ deck. Nino didn’t respond. Wayzz blinked slowly. "Ok... um, is this going to take a while, it's just that we've got quite a lot to talk about and-"

“AAAAAAHHHHHH OH _GOD_!” Nino yelled as if he were suddenly freed from a curse, making Wayzz jump.

Nino clambered backwards to the safety of his bed. Bed was safe. Bed was supportive. Bed was warm. Bed was sane when the rest of the world wasn’t. Bed was full of cushions to use as weapons, and a duvet to use for a shield. Bed was a fortress that gave him a soft landing when he tripped and went crashing down onto it.  
He scrambled on top, reaching urgently for the pillows to throw at the turtle as he tried to crawl up the wall behind his bed, turning his room into a mess. Each pillow flew past the turtle, coming either nowhere close to him, or being easily dodged by the kwami.

  “Wait- WAIT!” it said huffed, urgently, “Stop it! Don’t yell! I’m a friend! just stop it!”

Nino ran out of pillowed and ended up having to gape at the bizarre creature as he edged closer to Nino. Nino whimpered a little. He hadn’t expected to react like this. when Ladybug was there telling him about kwamis, things seemed fine and understandable, but now confronted by one alone, Nino wasn’t sure which one was the most uncomfortable.

 “Nino are you alright!?” he heard his father call from the next room.

Wayzz shrugged, eyes wide, urgently trying to encourage Nino to make him go away without trying to come in, in case he saw Wayzz. So Nino didn’t live alone? This was going to be frustrating. Master Fu lived alone. Wayzz was going to have to go back to hiding. He didn’t much like that.

“I-” Nino’s voice was tight and anxious, but he cleared his throat to try and fight through it. After all Ladybug told him he couldn’t tell anyone. “I’m fine dad! I – I thought I saw an akuma heading this way.”

“Are you ok? is it coming for you?” his father asked urgently.

“Nah, I’m ok! It was - um - just a leaf! Yeah, a leaf! I’m gonna put my headphones on and mix a new track, ok?” Nino called.

His father didn’t sound convinced, but let it slide. “Ok. let me know if you see the akuma again."

“Yes dad!”

Nino sighed with relief that his father went back to quietly watching the television, but the turtle folded his arms and gave him a grumpy look. “Akumas aren’t something to joke about Master Nino."

“Master? No. what the hell is going on?” Nino asked, baffled all over again.

“didn’t ladybug explain? I told her she had to!”  Wayzz began.

“No, she did, she said… oh crap what was it…” Nino bit his lip and furrowed his brow as he tried to remember what the polka-dot hero had told him.

Wayzz, meanwhile, was glancing around as if only now realising that he and the baffled boy were alone in a strange new room. “Where is Ladybug?”

“Something about this being for just one night, so put up with it,” Nino said, thoughtfully, not having heard Wayzz.

Wayzz now frowned at him. “Just one night? If I’m not staying why am I here?”

“look, um, tiny talking turtle-”

“did I forget to introduce myself? My apologies, my name is Wayzz, I’m a kwami.”

“right… Nino. human. Nice to meet you.”

“nice to meet you too, Master Nino,” Wayzz’s green antenna bobbed as he bowed his head, politely.

Nino wrinkled his nose in protest, “No, don’t – don’t do that.”

“please don’t be afraid. You have no reason to fear me,” Wayzz urged.

Nino opened his mouth to point out he wasn’t afraid, just baffled, but once again no words came out and he was left gawping.   
It was becoming increasingly apparent that neither of them was fully aware of what was supposed to happen now, and that both had questions the other couldn’t answer. Wayzz pressed his fingers together in front of his mouth, trying to understand what Nino was dealing with right then, and trying to be compassionate, even though he was just as frustrated and confused with the added complaint that he missed Master Fu and didn’t want to have someone else care for him yet. He tried to be understanding, but it was difficult. Being millions of years old didn’t make it easier to understand or deal with your emotions. Especially when you spent most of them in a box.

"Did Ladybug tell you about miraculous stones?" Wayzz asked.

"Miraculous... stones... um... yeah they came up," Nino said, uncertainly.

Nino didn’t have a clue if miraculous stones came up or not because right now he was barely able to remember half of what Ladybug said.  
A miracle stone?  
Did she mention those?

"Miraculous stones are the things that kwamis live in?"

"magical jewels that are the source of kwami powers, which are the source of the heroes powers. This-" Wayzz picked up the bracelet from the box Nino had dropped to the floor, "this is mine. Master Fu wore it for over a century. We understood each other, Master Fu and I... Now though, it’s yours."

Wayzz stared at the bracelet as he held it out at full arm’s length towards Nino. Nino blinked in surprise. He hesitated, since Wayzz seemed so reluctant to hand it over, but it took it in one hand, examining it curiously. It seemed to glisten in the light as he moved it. A turtle shell was engraved across the top, framed in the centre, and thick leather bands held onto it ready to wrap around his wrist. Nino was impressed to see a lack of wear on the leather, even though Nino had said Master Fu wore it for over a hundred years. Then again it was magic. They couldn't exactly let it break.

“I understand that you’re nervous and probably confused. If you have any questions-“

Nino didn’t give Wayzz a moment to think before asking, "Why me?"

Wayzz shook his head innocently, "I don't know. You were chosen to be the successor to my master, by Chat Noir. His powers will be passed onto you just as I have... it's unlikely you'll need to join the others-"

"Like Rena Rouge did?" Nino asked.

"Yes..." Wayzz sighed. He was beginning to feel the weight of the day in his eyelids and explaining the complications of this to Nino wasn’t something he wanted to do. "It's unlikely you'll have to join them. If you do, you'll have to say, "transform me" for your powers to be activated. I um... My previous Master went by the name of the Jade Turtle, but you can choose whether to change it or not."

"Change it? What would I change it to?" He asked.

"That's up to you," Wayzz shrugged.

"I'll think about that," Nino scratched his chin uncertainly.

"My master - my _old_ master... was also the guardian of all the miraculous - I trust Ladybug told you about that?" Wayzz checked.

"She did, I'm certain of that," Nino nodded firmly.

Wayzz nodded, his antenna bobbing again. "Yes. Well. Guardians are in charge of the book, and the miraculouses. I can help you learn the language and translate the tablet, but I'm afraid it will be a lot of work. There's no point starting today if we can't continue working. We'll begin, or not begin, after you've made your decision."

"As well as DJ work and school work and home work and socialising, yeah?"

"I did tell you there was a lot to be responsible for," Wayzz said.

Nino ran a hand through his hat-less hair, tugging from his roots and giving a wheezy laugh, "this is crazy. You know that right? This is utterly crazy! I can’t be this- I can’t do that man what are you talking about!?”

"I understand your hesitation. It is intimidating to be a miraculous wielder, let alone a guardian. Your responsibility to Ladybug and Chat Noir would be great, and your responsibility to Paris will be greater still, but it’s a noble and gallant responsibility. One many have trained all their lives for. My master was old and frail before he passed. Now that this time has come you have been chosen you to succeed him. I have faith in that choice, but it's your choice to accept it or not."

Wayzz said it so firmly that Nino felt unable to argue. He'd never imagined having to argue with a tiny and all-powerful god, but here he was. Once again way too many things were running through his head at once, and he stopped being able to talk. Wayzz floated away to explore this new place he'd have to call home. It was smaller and darker here. The walls were navy blue and covered in shelves crammed full of CDs and wallpapered with album covers and band posters. There was a dark grey carpet on the floor, so the people downstairs weren't too offended by Nino's wild dancing. The main light currently came from the wide windows which were still open from the heroes exit. The curtains flapped in the breeze, allowing in the dying sunlight to fill the room. Soon they'd have to turn on the single bulb that hung above them, without a lampshade.   
Black speakers stood upright under the DJ deck against the wall. They weren’t much like the gramophone that Wayzz was used to sleeping in, but they weren't far off.   
Sort of.  
Nothing was neatly folded away in here either. There was a chair in the corner that was less chair and more dirty laundry. This place was nothing like home really, not that that was home anymore... Wayzz felt a rush of pain. This morning he'd woken up in his match box at home and drank tea with his master like it was any other day... Everything had changed so quickly it just wasn't fair...  
Nino's fear eased as he watched the tears well up in the corners of the little turtle’s eyes again. He felt a bubble of guilt. The little guy had just lost his friend, and Nino was making this all about him...

He cleared his throat uncomfortably, "Little dude? Wayzz?"

"Yes master," Wayzz asked, not turning because of the tears.

"Please don’t call me that," Nino muttered.

"Sorry," Wayzz sighed.

He hovered lower, sinking towards the spinning deck. At least that felt familiar. Nino scratched his head again, unsure of what he could do to help him feel more comfortable here.

"Are you hungry?" He asked.

"Hungry?" Wayzz repeated, confused.

"Sorry, kwamis do eat right? You eat?" Nino asked uncertainly.

"I do," Wayzz sighed.

"Well Ladybug said Master Fu... passed on today... Grieving people don't usually get time to stop and eat. Are you hungry?" Nino repeated.

"Actually yes, a little," Wayzz admitted.

"Cool. Um... what'd you eat?"

"Greens. Seaweed, cucumber, kale, broccoli, lettuce, grass if I have to. I'm vegetarian."

"Wow! That's really cool!" Nino forced a smile.

Wayzz raised his head and looked confused. "It is?"

"Yeah man! I'm gonna get way healthier with you around," Nino grinned.

Wayzz forced a smile back, and Nino left to find him something salad like to munch on. When he returned he found that the kwami had nestled down in the tunnel of one of his speakers and fallen asleep. Nino figured he had a right to be exhausted, so set the lettuce on top of the speaker, before turning his attention to the tablet.


	3. Chapter 3

Nino couldn't pretend to understand the language of the photos of the book pages on the old man’s table, but the drawings fascinated him. That was Rena! He had to admit he was her number one fan. She was just as awesome in this drawing, but she looked more like that Lila, and yet she wasn't either of them! And that was Chat, except he wasn't, and he had a ball of black plasma in his palm! This _had_ to be Ladybug, and that had to be her kwami Tikki - oh she was cute!  
Oh...  
This had to be that Jade Turtle Wayzz mentioned... He looked heroic... A little overly green maybe, and the Frisbee-come-shield shell of his was a little overly Captain America, but he still looked cool. And that little turtle in the corner of the page - that was Wayzz! It had to be! He was the source of this hero’s power...   
There was only two words on the page Nino could read. One was jade, and the other was:

"Carapace..."

He rolled the word around his mouth carefully, trying to taste it as much as he heard it. Carapace. Strong. Protective. Part of a shell, which was his only weapon... Nino glanced back to the sleeping kwami. A hundred years this Master Fu had been Jade Turtle. Nino knew what it felt like when someone else took your nickname. Even though it was nothing, and it shouldn’t matter, it hurt. If Wayzz was going to trust him, he didn’t want him to be uncomfortable giving the wrong person the same nickname. It sounded stupid, but it mattered.   
Plus Jade Turtle was a real hero by the looks of it. He didn’t want to have the pressure of that reputation on his shoulders along with everything else. He wasn’t Jade Turtle. He was Nino. But if he had to be someone else, he'd be Carapace. Lower expectations, y’know?

Nino flicked onwards through the pictures until he came to photos of random items in a light room with wooden floors and things that looked ancient. These photos were empty, but someone (definitely Master Fu, who else could it be?) had drawn in a detailed picture of Wayzz, so he fit into the picture. The only thing that gave away that they were pictures was that they were brighter than the rest of the area. There was very little shading.   
One in particular caught his eye.  
Wayzz perched on the lip of a gramophone, sipping tea from a thimble, looking peaceful.   
There was something about the gramophone, he couldn't put his finger on what it was, but it felt important. It felt like he needed it.

"Dinner Nino!" His mother called.

"Coming!"

Nino stashed the box under his bed, behind old board games and out of sight. He'd have to find a better hiding place soon, but right now, this would do. He slipped the jade bracelet onto his wrist and heading to dinner.

"That's nice, where'd you get that?" His mother asked.

"It was a gift from a friend," Nino said.

"Oh, from Alya? You two are quite an item now," His mother smiled.

Nino blushed slightly. "It's special."

"I'll bet it is. Make sure you keep it safe," his mother warned.

"Don't worry," he glanced towards his shut bedroom door, "I'm never taking it off."

...

When morning rolled around Wayzz’s heart sank to realise he wasn't at home anymore. That this was home now. It was something he was yet to wrap his head around. He was going to miss his gramophone, with his match box and his posters. Ok, so they were stamps, whatever they were his! He was going to miss tea with Master Fu too. What were the chances this teenage DJ liked taking time for tea in the mornings?   
He was in the shower right now. Wayzz was alone. Alone in a strange place. He felt unsettled. It wouldn't last, logically he knew that, but he didn't like it.   
Home seemed so very far away.   
The sounds of the shower faded as Wayzz busied himself, exploring the music that his new master enjoyed, all of which were on display on the wall. Nino felt a little self-conscious at the idea of changing in front of the kwami, especially since they'd only just met, so he'd brought clothes into the bathroom with him. Now he was running through his slightly damp hair, his glasses a little foggy as he wandered back into his bedroom. Wayzz took a deep breath to will himself to go over and talk to the boy.  
It wasn’t his fault he wasn't Master Fu. There had to be a reason Chat Noir had picked him and Ladybug hadn't chastised him for it. both of them believed in him for some reason. He just had to find out what that was.

"Good morning Mas-"

Nino wrinkled his nose at the word, "Ugh, don't Wayzz!"

Wayzz felt a stab of pain. He bowed his head. "Good morning Nino."

"Morning little dude. Did you sleep ok?" Nino smiled.

"My rest was adequate," Wayzz nodded.

Nino’s smile wavered but he tried to stay positive. "Awesome..."

"I'm sorry, I was exhausted and agitated last night. I'm sorry if I was offensive," Wayzz said.

"Nah it’s cool dude, I know you didn't mean anything by it," Nino shrugged.

"Right... dude..."

Dude was not Master. Master was respectful and commanding. Dude was far too laid back for the nobility of guardian. Wayzz didn’t love Tikki calling Marinette "girl" like she was just a buddy, but Marinette seemed to, and she wasn't supposed to be the representative for the nobility of the guardians. Maybe he was being too old. Maybe he had to move with the time. After all, Master had once been too informal too once. He needed to try and keep up. no matter how uncomfortable it felt.

“Have you made your decision?” he asked, curiously.

“Um, I wanted to talk to you about that,” Nino said.

Wayzz tried not to sigh, “How many more questions do you have?”

“Only one, I swear,” Nino pressed a hand against his chest to promise him.

Wayzz sighed. it was rarely just one. He tried to be willing and helpful, but it’d been so long since he had to explain things so bluntly, he forgot how annoying and time consuming it was. again, not Nino’s fault, Wayzz reminded himself, even so it was deeply irritating.

“alright. Ask away,” Wayzz said.

“Do you wanna stay?” Nino asked.

Wayzz's eyes widened for a moment. He hadn't expected to be asked that question, because no one had ever asked before. No one ever asked his opinion.

“I'm sorry?”

“Do you want to stay Wayzz? Do you wanna stay here, with me, and teach me, or would you prefer to return to your bracelet and wait until we can find someone more… I dunno, suitable?”

“oh…”

There was a long silence as it dawned on Wayzz that this was why Nino had been chosen. He cared. He listened. He wanted to know what you had to say. That's what makes a good guardian. Listening.

“well?” Nino urged.

“Do you like tea?” Wayzz asked.

“I prefer hot chocolate,” Nino shrugged.

“that will do. I’ll make us some,” Wayzz beamed.

Nino grinned but his heart stopped when Wayzz passed through the shut door. Nino opened the door and grabbed him, making him yell. “ah- sorry!"

Wayzz flew out of his grip and dusted himself down. "What's wrong, I'm only making tea!"

"I’ll come with you. just in case my parents haven’t gone to work yet,” Nino said, sheepishly.

“right. parents. Secrets… I’ll hide under your hat. It’ll be safe there, I’m sure,” Wayzz said.

“oh, sure, up you come!” Nino beamed.

Wayzz's smile was slightly strained. He wanted to go along with Nino, he wanted to try and get on with saving Paris, but... things were tough, y'know? He didn't want to lose the chance to bond with Nino, but he wasn't thrilled at all this change.  
Master Fu never made him hide under a hat.  
Yes, Wayzz had been the one to suggest it, but it was undignified. That hurt more than anything else. Wayzz's attention was pulled back by the sound of Nino's voice.

"Coast is clear, ready to come out?"

"Um, yes, of course," Wayzz cleared his throat.

Nino lifted his hat, and the turtle kwami slipped out, trying to keep his dignity about him, even though he wasn’t sure how effective that would be. Nino grinned at his and held out his arms. With both outstretched he could almost brush the walls at the length of the room with his fingertips. It was cramped and covered in wooden panels, with a tiny window above the stove that let in the sun. It shone onto the sandy lino, reflecting back to the white ceiling, and making the rooms bright. Everything was neatly put away and kept just so. The opposite of Nino's room, Wayzz thought.

"Well? What'd you think?" Nino grinned.

"Where’s the teapot?" Wayzz asked.

"We've got a kettle," Nino said.

Wayzz's face fell. "Oh. I like a teapot. Master Fu and I had a matching set. He kept his for when miraculous holders came to visit, and I used mine once a year for the kwami tea parties to celebrate what you would call our birthdays. The one day a year the kwamis are realised from their stones to celebrate aging."

A small but wistful smile warmed its way across Wayzz's face at the memories of the old times. Plagg and Tikki hadn't been a part of the parties for a while. They had responsibilities. It was only understandable. He missed them a little more than he should. Especially now he didn't have Master Fu either.

Nino kept his smile even as Wayzz's faded. "Oh cool, that sounds awesome, shall I wait until then to meet them all, or shall we let them out now to tell them the news?"

Wayzz shook his head. "I'll tell them myself. One by one. Alone. It'll be easier for them."

"Oh... ok. You know best. Um... tea?" Nino was suddenly feeling the awkwardness between them, and it made him uncomfortable.

"Yes. Tea. Where's your kettle?" Wayzz asked.

Trying to fill a thimble with tea for the kwami was difficult enough but carrying it back to the bedroom for him without looking conspicuous was harder. The two of them sat in Nino's bedroom, sipping on their drinks and tried hard to figure out what to say to one another. Wayzz supposed that this would fade with time. At least he hoped it would.

"I..." Wayzz said, into his tea, "I think I would like to stay... if you would like me to."

"I think I would like you to," Nino smiled softly.

"Then I'll stay," Wayzz smiled back.

"And I'll become the miraculous guardian," Nino said.

For a moment their eyes met, and they shared a warm smile. With some time and a little effort, this could be the start of a wonderful friendship. Then, without a word, they went back to sipping their drinks.

....

"But it's inevitable! It’s not like you're immortal Mari, one day you'll have to die," Tikki shrugged.

Marinette was frustrated by how blaze Tikki was being about this. It wasn’t like she'd never done this before. At some point every ladybug realised they were one day going to die whether they liked it or not, and when that day came they would have to say goodbye to their kwami. Joan of Arc realised early on, and when the day came for her to die, the last thing she said to Tikki was not to worry about the dead, because they would all look out for her as she had looked out for when while they lived.   
That had never left Tikki. She had always liked the idea of past ladybugs watching over the new, and yet the idea they were watching her too had never come to her. It was comforting.   
Not that it comforted Marinette.

"But what will you do when I do?" Marinette urged.

"I'll return my earrings to the nearest guardian and return to my stone to rest until I'm needed again," Tikki explained.

"Won’t you be lonely?" Marinette asked, desperately.

"It’s like sleeping. Are you lonely when you sleep?" Tikki asked.

"What about ladybugs? How many have you had? Don't you miss us? Can you remember all of us?"

Tikki closed her eyes as she felt a tug of pain in her chest. She remembered them. Every single one. Maybe she got a little muddled, there had been so many, but she remembered the big things for each one.  
Claire had the ribbon thing that was like an obsession. Alicia had that thing about odd socks, it was like she was allergic to pairs. Isaac had the tattoos like clear skin offended him. Senebi loved perfumes and tried to suffocate Tikki with them. Lucretia adored scarves to the extent that she learned to weave just to made one for her Chat Noir. Delphine had wanted to set Tikki up with Trixx, despite how obviously jealous Plagg was, and spent so much time with Carter (the fox) that she fell for him instead of the cat. Helga had introduced her to cookies. Marinette was the phone thief.   
At least she hoped she would remember Marinette as the phone thief. There was a lot more she could remember, (the baking and the fashion skills for one thing) but the phones made her laugh.

Tikki ached as her mind ran through the main things she remembered from all the bugs of the past. Her eyes misted as he met Marinette's gaze. She flew forward and grabbed the necklace hidden behind Marinette's shirt. "Mari, this was made from the hair of all the other ladybugs before you. Every one of them is in this, as you will be for my next charge. You won't be forgotten. I won't forget you. I promise."

Marinette's eyes misted as she scooped Tikki into her palm. "That's my point Tikki. How many people have you got to remember, when you just lose them in the end?"

Tikki pressed herself against her palm reassuringly. "It's an honour to know each and every one of them, for no matter how long a time. I love you Marinette, and I love that you worry about me, but you don't need to. You need to worry about Nino!"

"Oh I'm sure he's been fine! I'm worried about _you_ ,” Marinette insisted.

"Don’t be. I'm fine! I'm over a billion years old Marinette. I'm okay. Promise. You've got a phone call coming through,” Tikki could sense it.

Marinette groaned. Part of her was convinced kwamis had antennas specifically for communicating with each other. For whatever reason Plagg and chat had been bothering Tikki’s antenna for ages.

"It's probably important!" Tikki urged.

"Yeah, yeah, transform me,” Marinette huffed.

The spotted yoyo was ringing. Literally. It showed up a picture of a glowing ring with a green pawprint on the top. Ladybug answered with her usual weary smile.

"Hey kitty."

"You didn’t call me, naughty bug. I've been waiting up all night,” He said, pointedly.

"Somehow I don't believe that,” she smirked.

"Alright, maybe not all night, but you still didn’t call!" He sounded upset. Not in his usual way either. This sounded more genuine.

"Sorry, the minute I got hold I crashed,” she apologised.

"I'm not surprised, you were turning into a bed bug when I was carrying you home,” he smirked.

She bit her lip sheepishly, her ears turning pink at the hazy memory. "Thanks again for that."

"Any time my lady. One day maybe I'll even be allowed to come to your house,” he winked.

"Don't bet on it kitty,” she warned.

"I'm betting the house on it. Did he call you last night? Did he need help?" He asked.

"No. Wanna meet at the arch de triumph and go over together?” she asked.

"Sounds good, see you there. Wear red so I know which one you are,” he grinned.

"Quit kidding around Chat,” she rolled her eyes.

"I know, I'm sorry. Like I could ever forget what you look like. No one can forget a face that puts the Mona Lisa to shame!” he grinned.

"I'm hanging up now,” she said.

"Ladybug wait-"

She hung up on him. Ladybug folded her arms across her lap and sighed. If Nino didn't take the job, they were back to square one. He had to take it. He just had to.   
Chat Noir flashed her one of his brightest grins as he landed beside her. She was busy waving at the fans calling her name. Even stressed out and grieving she could smile and joke with her fans. He admired that.

"Heya bugaboo," he beamed.

"Don't call me that kitty," she warned.

He smiled anyway, until he met her eyes and saw the bags underneath them. She'd slept a lot, or so she said, but the weight of everything had aged her.

"How you doing?" He asked gently.

She smiled affectionate that he cared. "I'm tough, I'll be ok."

"Think Nino's tough?" Chat asked.

Ladybug could sense the hesitance in his tone. Nino had been his suggestion, and she knew he was worried when he said he wanted time to think about it. The suggestion was supposed to ease her worry, and he hadn't even managed to do that.

Ladybug shrugged. "Only one way to find out."

"Race you?" He grinned.

"Eat my lucky dust!" She beamed, poking his bell playfully as she did.

The few seconds that he froze up, blushing at her touch, won her enough distance that Chat had to rush to catch up, and work hard to keep up. He'd have accused her of cheating if he could bring himself to tell her the truth about how he felt. Although, If she did know, she still probably would have cheated the same way anyway.  
For a moment, swinging through the Paris streets with Chat Noir hot on her heels, Ladybug had nothing else to think about. All she had to focus on was Chat Noir and keeping him behind her. the chill of the bracing wind made her cheeks pink and her hair wild, but she didn’t care. She didn’t care about anything. she glanced back for a moment, to see Chat Noir’s hair billowing in the wind as he swung rapidly towards her, grinning like a maniac. She yelped in alarm as he got closer and tried to go a little faster. It was harder than you’d think with all these buildings around. She had to keep stopping to race across the rooftops and leap to the next one before having to lash out her yo-yo again.   
Ladybug landed on Nino’s roof, skidding slightly so she ended up rolling. Chat dropped to her side ready to rush over and check she was ok, but before he could she was on her feet throwing her arms in the air and beaming with delight. Chat grinned as she danced triumphantly. Smug as she was being, he couldn’t help feeling proud to have given her the chance to laugh.

"You're getting _slow_ kitty!" She teased, giggling.

"I was just admiring the view, my lady," he beamed.

Immediately her smile faded and her cheeks - still pink from the wind - turned red. She had to look away from him to favour the door to their left.

"Nino's waiting," she said.

"We could go that way," Chat said, unenthusiastically.

She turned to shoot a puzzled look at him. He smiled, and pressed a button on his baton to let it rise to match his height. Ladybugs face twisted between excited and reluctant. Giving Chat the freedom to hold her as she gave up control for him cemented their trust, but it had been more than once that he tickled her too much, or her hold lingered in the wrong place, and he dropped her. It made her reluctant to do this sometimes. Especially when she could I herself up.

"Don’t you trust me?" Chat purred.

"Don’t make me answer that, you won’t like the answer," Ladybug teased.

" _bugaboo_!" Chat gasped, pretending to be offended.

"Don’t call me that, slowpoke!" Ladybug teased.

"Does it bug you, bugaboo?"

"You know what kitty?"

"What?"

"You're already a step behind."

Before he could even look confused, Ladybug took a delicate and elegant step over the edge of the roof, and plummeted out of sight towards the city street, taking Chat's heart with her. He dashed to the edge quicker than lightning, just in time to see her yo-yo shoot up and wrap its self around the top of the fire escape. Chat sighed with relief as his heart beat hard enough for him to hear it. She was going to be the death of him one day.  
The view that greeted Ladybug was one of Nino and Wayzz having a long conversation about their conflicting tastes of music. Nino was surprised to find out Wayzz liked records and how they span but hadn't seen anyone spin records like Nino could. They seemed to be getting along like any new roommates do. A little awkward, a little overly polite, and slightly nervous. Chat Noir balanced on top of his baton, beside Ladybug, peering through Nino's window.

"Think he's gonna take it?" Chat smirked.

Ladybug watched Wayzz trying to balance on the record as Nino made a point of scratching it. Wayzz tumbled over and fell onto the pin. Nino laughed, and helped him to his feet, with only his finger. Wayzz gave him a sheepish smile and dusted himself down.

"I'm sure if we practice we can fix that," Nino said.

"I believe we have company right now," Wayzz said, gesturing to the window.

Nino turned to see Chat and Ladybug wave. Nino grinned. He opened the window to let them climb in. Chat helped Ladybug in first, with pose and dignity. Then he threw himself in gracelessly, rolling over the window edge.

"Not exactly a cat burglar, are you?" Nino smirked.

"There's nothing worth stealing but kisses," Chat purred, leaning on his baton towards Ladybug, pointedly.

Ladybug put a hand on her hip and smiled at Nino, refusing to look towards Chat Noir. "And yet he still can’t get any of those."

"I'll have you know my lady-"

"What'd you decide Nino?"

Ladybug was ignoring Chat, not because she thought he was wrong, or didn't want to know what he had to say, but because she could guess what he was going to say, and she was more concerned with what _Nino_ had to say. Wayzz flew up to hover beside Nino.

"Wayzz wants to stay, and it'd be an honour to have him here," Nino explained.

Wayzz nodded solemnly. Ladybug grinned over at Chat Noir and Chat practically cheered.

"Thank God! I was worried I'd have to find someone else, and I can’t think of anyone better suited to the role than you!" Ladybug beamed.

"Yeah, this is turtle-y pawsome Nino!" Chat punched his arm playfully.

Nino wrinkled his nose and gave Ladybug a look. "Does he do that a lot?"

"Get used to it, he'll be dropping by for visits often, and he won’t stop," Ladybug giggled.

Chat pretended to be hurt again, which made Wayzz pat his arm gently. "There will be much to learn. It will be far from easy, but it will be worthy."

Nino glanced at the two of them and shuffled closer to ask, quietly, "Ladybug, can I have a word?"

Ladybug nodded. Nino picked up the tablet and followed her out of the room towards the sitting room. His parents were long gone by now, leaving the two of them free to talk. Wayzz and Chat were left with a chance to talk too and discuss what the turtle knew about the black cat’s powers. Ladybug grinned at Nino.

"Thank you for this. You won't regret it, I swear!"

"Yeah, no, sure, but um, I was looking through the photos and I found-" Nino paused to run through the images on the tablet to find the ones with Wayzz drawn into them to show her. "Do you know where this is?"

"That’s master Fu's apartment. He must have taken to drawing Wayzz. Kwamis can’t be caught on camera you see, so if you want to capture their image you have to draw them,"

"Oh, that’s... interesting..." Nino was a little disappointed. He loved the idea of a framed selfie with his new little friend, but if it wasn’t to be, it wasn’t to be. "Um, I wanted to know what this is."

Ladybug raised an eyebrow. "A gramophone?"

"No, I mean, um... Wayzz was telling me about it, yeah, because it's on his page - see?"

Nino swiped back to find the pictures of the book pages. He zoomed in on the drawing of the gramophone. Her eyes widened as she recognised it.

"Oh wow!"

"Yeah! He said that it was where the box thingy was hidden. I’m thinking-"

"That it would be easier to hide it in the thing it’s been hidden in for the last century?" She smiled in agreement.

"Pretty much, yeah. And... Wayzz seems pretty down. I get that he’s just lost his friend but I... I wanna do something to cheer him up, and so far vinyl is the one thing we have in common..." Nino scratched his neck sheepishly.

He wanted to make this work out, he really did. Wayzz had extended an olive branch by making tea, even if he wasn’t thrilled that he had to stay under Nino's hat, and Nino wanted him to be comfortable here, and for some reason he couldn't think how to do it. This little dance with the spinning deck was the closest they had gotten since finishing their drinks.

Ladybug wanted this to work. She wanted to help. "Want me to take you over to his house so you can find it?"

"I don’t want to make him feel like I'm ransacking a dead man's house," Nino said, concerned.

Ladybug furrowed her brow. That thought hadn’t even entered her mind. "Yeah that’s... that's not great... but Wayzz is one of the wisest kwamis I’ve ever met-"

"How many have you met?" Nino asked, curiously.

Ladybug opened her mouth, and then shut it, her shoulders sagging. "Alright. Call my bluff. I only know Tikki and Wayzz. I haven’t even met Plagg. But that doesn’t mean Wayzz isn’t understanding and compassionate. If he's down its because he misses Master Fu. Bringing him something from home might help ease him into this."

"Can we go now? I wanna get it before my parents come home," Nino said.

"Yeah, sure, alright, let me just tell Chat and we'll go."

Ladybug opened the door and peered in, ready to warn him that she was leaving. Suddenly the door was slammed shut on her again. She leapt back in surprise. Even Nino looked baffled. Ladybug knocked on the door again.

"Hey, Chat, you ok in there?" She called.

"Yeah, yeah, Plagg wanted to talk to Wayzz, so I kinda, had to, um..." Adrien stammered, pressing his full weight against the door.

"You're not Chat right now?" Ladybug asked, surprised.

"No, sorry," Adrien said.

Ladybug blinked, looking a little surprised still, but she shook it out of her head and continued, "Um, I was just letting you know that me and Nino are heading out for a while-"

"Where are you going?" He asked, concerned.

Nino grabbed Ladybugs wrist before she could answer, and quietly said, "Wait - I wanna surprise Wayzz!"

"Oh right, um... we're gonna stock up on- what does Wayzz eat?" She asked.

"Kale and seaweed," Nino said.

"Greens for Wayzz! We won’t be long, do you wanna stay with the kwamis while were gone?" She called through the door.

"Like babysitting?" Adrien stared at Plagg, eyes wide.

He cared for Plagg day in day out, and yet the idea of babysitting him and Wayzz at the same time seemed too daunting an idea to actually attempt it. Plagg had a similar idea.

"IM A GOD OF DESTRUCTION I DONT NEED BABYSITTING!" Came an unfamiliar voice through the door.

"I'll give you camembert if you shut up," Adrien hissed.

"HES A WONDERFUL BABYSITTER!" The voice called again.

Ladybug giggled to herself. Chat sounded flustered. "We'll be back soon, ok?"

Adrien pressed his head against the door and begged, "Hurry my lady."

Ladybug rolled her eyes and grinned at Nino. Nino easily kept up with her stride as they hurried down to the street to get these tasks done.

"Guess were stopping at the shops then," Ladybug huffed.

"It’ll be worth it," Nino said, stubbornly.

Ladybug smiled. He was already making sacrifices for his kwami. Chat had picked perfectly. She had to give him that. He was a great judge of character.

She cleared her throat. "It'll be quicker if I carry you. It might be a little..."

"If anyone sees me being carried by you, I'll be too busy worrying about Alya dying of jealousy to care about my masculinity," Nino assured.

"You’re a good boyfriend."

"Thanks."

...

Ladybug's miraculous was beeping as she laid the brown bag of kwami food on the table in the kitchen. Nino set the heavy gramophone beside it. His arms ached now that the weight was suddenly free. He rubbed his arm stubbornly as he realised her earrings were beeping.

"Aren't you in a hurry to leave?" Nino asked.

"I probably should be, but let’s be honest, if you’re our guardian it probably doesn’t matter if you know who we are," ladybug said.

"I get to know who you are?!" Nino asked.

Ladybug nodded. "But you've got to settle things with Wayzz first. It’s too dangerous for you to know if you're not our guardian."

"Right. Another good reason for this then," Nino patted the gramophone gently.

Ladybug chuckled but her face fell when her earrings beeped again. "Call me if you need me Nee, I'm gonna run."

Nino called his farewells after her as she let the front door slam shut behind her. Underneath the door came a bright pink light. Nino smirked. Ladybugs true identity was out there. She could be anyone. No one would know she was just in here. No one would know he was working with her. With both heroes. Speaking of both heroes...

"Chat?" Nino called.

"Yeah buddy?" Chat called back, anxiously.

Nino wandered towards the door. "Ladybugs gone. Her miraculous was going."

"Oh..." chat opened the door and Nino was a little disappointed to see he was back to being Chat Noir. "She's right y’know. If this all works out, you’re going to have to know who we really are."

"If Alya ever finds out I know she'll go insane," Nino laughed.

"She can’t find out," Chat warned, seriously.

"I know. Don't worry dude, I’m not gonna tell," Nino promised.

"You've got a lot of new secrets to deal with already today. Maybe we should hold off with these ones. We don't want your mind to blow," Chat smirked.

"Nah, then I wouldn't be able to hear my music," Nino smirked.

"That would be a cat-astrophe!" Chat grinned.

Nino rolled his eyes. Chat smiled. He glanced towards the door and sighed. Nino was his best friend. He didn't like that he caused to much worry when he wasn’t around in akuma attacks, admitting he was the one fighting the akumas would only make that worse.

"You want to chase after ladybug don't you?" Nino smirked.

Chat glanced back at him and blinked. He hadn’t considered chasing Ladybug for ages. Not since the cupboard incident. He knew he couldn't. But right now all he could think was to tell him the truth about his identity, and he didn’t want to dump that on Nino’s shoulders. The only other thing he could do was leave.

"Very much so," he said.

"Don't worry, I won't judge you," Nino grinned.

Chat shook his head with a soft laugh, "I'm not-"

Nino rolled his eyes. " _go_!"

"Thank you!"

The door bounced on its hinges as he swung it open and let it slam back into place behind him. Nino laughed and shook his head as Chat and Ladybug vanished. He picked up a tea towel and draped it over the gramophone.

"Wayzz, you around?" He called.

Wayzz fluttered into the room, "I am. What do you need?"

"I got you a present!” Nino beamed. Wayzz looked cautious as Nino held out his arms to frame the tea towel covered object on the table. Nino grinned wider as he grabbed the end of the tea towel and whipped it out for the reveal. “Ta-dah!"

Wayzz’s mouth fell open to see his old sleeping space before him. "Master Fu's gramophone! Where did you get this?!"

"I asked Ladybug where Master Fu lived and if I could take this. You seemed to miss it and I wanted you to be comfortable. Plus it'd be easier to hide the box in here, especially since it stands out less given my-" he cleared his throat. He was trying to find a nice way to say the-musical-mess-I-live-in or the-classical-clutter-around-my-room, but he settled on, "equipment."

Wayzz laid a hand on the lip of the gramophone, and looked up at Nino, surprised, "You did this for me?"

"You might be an almighty source of power, but you have feelings too, and you clearly aren't happy with the situation we're in now, so if this makes you more comfortable here, then it has to stay. Besides, it gives me an excuse to buy more vinyl’s," Nino shrugged.

Wayzz turned back to the gramophone. His stamps and his match box bed were still in here. he smiled. "I like you master Lahiffe."

"Dude, master Lahiffe is my father. Call me Nino."

"Yes master."

Nino’s smile vanished, "No, seriously, don’t do that."

Wayzz’s face felt too and he bowed his head. "Sorry..."

"Aren't you happy with it?" Nino frowned.

"I'm thrilled! This has been my one personal item for the last thousand years! Thank you for receiving it," Wayzz said.

He still didn’t smile though, and that made Nino’s shoulders sag. He had no idea how he was supposed to get this little kwami to open up to him if he wasn’t going to tell him anything of his own accord.

"Then what's wrong?" Nino half begged to know.

"I...” Wayzz gulped and turned to look in his direction, but not quite at him. “I find it disrespectful not to call you Master. You don't like being called Master Nino, and yet Master Lahiffe is no better to you. I don't wish to call you dude. It feels-"

Nino batted the air like it was nothing, "Dude, if you wanna call me Master because it makes you feel more comfortable, we can figure out a way to make it work!"

Wayzz lifted his head. "We can?"

"Sure. I mean, I don't much like being called Master because it feels like I'm in control of you, and I don’t wanna be in control of someone else. I'd rather be equal, y’know?" Nino shrugged.

"But you are in control of me. You are in control of all these miraculous. Their fates rest in your hands," Wayzz insisted.

Nino’s chest tightened. "And that’s pretty nerve wracking,"

"Have you been studying the language guide I gave you?"

"Yeah, but-"

"Then I'm sorry but it’s too late to back out."

There was a long pause between them that wasn’t quite tense, and wasn’t quite awkward, but somewhere in the middle, and very uncomfortable for both of them. Nino cleared his throat again, because one of them had to say something and Wayzz was right. it was too late to back out now.

"Then maybe we should do a little bonding," Nino declared.

"Bonding?" Wayzz repeated.

"Yeah. It's all well and good sitting in my room and talking, maybe we should go out and spend some time getting to know one another," Nino said.

“I’d have to stay hidden. As would the box. You should hide it now,” Wayzz urged.

“I will. Then you can go under my hat, and we’ll go for a walk. Sound good?”

It didn’t. Who wants to sit under a teenagers hat all day? but reluctantly, Wayzz agreed anyway. His master wanted him to go. what choice did he have?


	4. Chapter 4

Nino put Marinette's flushed cheeks down to the heat of the ovens. The idea that she had rushed across the city from his house just to get back to her bakery in time, didn’t even enter his mind. Her smile warmed her face as she handed over the bag of warm croissants.

"Are you just here for food or can you stay and let me beat you at video game for a while?" She teased.

"Actually, my feet just kinda brought me here. I was trying to figure out where I could take a friend," Nino shrugged.

"Are you trying to make Adrien become a regular person by taking him to places he's never been but totally should have by now again?" Marinette asked.

"No, but can you believe that guys never been to Starbucks? Like, it’s not that great but _damn_ ," Nino shook his head in disappointment.

"Well he probably imports super caffeinated extra strength coffee to deal with his father’s schedule as well as school," Marinette sighed.

"Yeah, poor dude..." Nino sighed too.

The both of them couldn't help feeling sorry for Adrien. Neither of them were going to have much of their childhood anymore what with their new responsibilities weighing on them, but they already had infanthood. From tots to teens they were free to play and laugh and learn in school. They had memories and games with people who were still in their class. Classmates that had memories of them too, being care free and foolish. But Adrien? All Adrien had were paintings of his family, his family that was falling apart, and Chloe, who he didn’t talk to as much anymore. Time had now given him friends, Nino mainly, since Marinette didn’t really talk to him, and Alya was just his friend’s girlfriend, but at least it was more than Chloe. They were there if he needed them, ready to spend time with him and laugh and joke with him, even if now they had less time available to do it. Responsibilities came first. Tikki and Wayzz came first. But he still didn’t like talking about his childhood. Probably because he was modelling then too.   
His father always had him modelling.

Nino shook off the pity that Adrien would never want him to feel and flashed her a grin. "Hey, if you were visiting Paris for the first time, where would you go?”

Marinette folded her arms and rested them on the desk between them with a shrug. “personally, I’d go for the hot spots. the tourist traps. It’s cliché for a reason, right?”

“right, but what about afterwards?” Nino asked.

“I guess I’d go to the botanical gardens. It’s got a lot of flowers, and a lot of pretty things like butterflies. And ladybugs,” she said, pointedly.

“Ladybug lives in the botanical gardens?” Nino asked in surprised, not quite thinking.

“how would I know where Ladybug lives? Although it’d make sense. Lots of ladybug friends in the gardens, right?” She smirked.

Unheard to Nino, hidden in Marinette's apron pocket, Tikki giggled to herself. Nino was too busy thinking to see Marinette's hand edge down to scratch the kwamis back affectionately.

“right… how much is the aquarium these days?” Nino asked.

“you give someone help and they throw it back in your face,” Marinette smiled at Tikki as Tikki's eyes sparkled up at her.

Nino’s widened with alarm. “no – no I didn’t, I just meant, I mean-”

Marinette looked back at him, and laughed, “I’m only teasing Nino! it’s ok! I don’t know how much the aquarium costs, probably about twenty euros."

His jaw dropped. “that’s steep!”

“yeah, but what’s inside is worth it, right?” she shrugged.

“is it though?” he wrinkled his nose.

Marinette fought the urge to roll her eyes. She was sure that wherever Wayzz was hiding right now, he was doing it for her. Fortunately, Alya had walked in and was ready with an answer that didn’t involve Marinette risking revealing too much by reminding Nino why he was doing this in the first place.

“why don’t you take Adrien? I’m sure he’s never been since his father literally never lets him outside, and he’d probably pay for both of you,” Alya winked.

Marinette actually did rolled her eyes this time, but she smiled too. The brunette was always a little filter less with her suggestions but Marinette had to admit sometimes it made her laugh.

“don’t be a gold digger Alya,” she warned.

“I’m not! I’m saying Nino should be,” Alya grinned.

Nino's cheeks had gone pink, but he pressed on firmly, “I’m not going to bother Adrien with this! I’m going with a friend anyway.”

Alya pressed a hand against her chest and pretended to be offended, in almost the exact way that Chat Noir had twice that morning. “you have friends outside of us and Adrien?”

“ha. Ha. _ha_! Hilarious,” Nino said, sarcastically.

Marinette chuckled to herself. she was aware that all three of the people in that room had, at one time or another, been in possession of a kwami. All of them had friends outside of the four of them, but their friends happened to live in their pockets. Had she known about Plagg, it probably would have made her laugh harder.

"Nino's taking a friend to the aquarium to see the seahorses and the turtles and what not-"

Marinette placed such subtle emphasis on the word turtles that everyone in that room but Alya got it, simply because they were in on the joke. Otherwise it would have slipped flawlessly under the radar. Nino’s heart beat faster in alarm, instantly wondering if she'd seen Wayzz under his hat and not said anything but was bringing it up not in some subtle way as a warning, even though that made no sense whatsoever. Then Marinette continued her sentence with no sign of hesitation and he realised he was being foolish.

"- So he can't play video games with us today. Isn’t that a shame?"

"Such a shame. Unless she's a pretty girl," Alya grinned.

Alarm bells went off in Nino's head. "What?!"

"If you've got a " _friend_ " we're not allowed to meet that you’re taking to the aquarium, alone, just the two of you, it's gonna be a girl. It’s gonna be a crush. I hope she's pretty," Alya grinned.

His cheeks flushed red as he blushed deep trying to stammer through to his point that there was no girl because he liked her. He just... couldn’t. "I - that’s not - this isn’t - I don't-"

"Aw he's more flustered than you around Adrien, he must really like her!" Alya giggled.

"I - no - you - you-me - meoo-" Nino squeaked.

Alya gasped in delight, " _Meoo_? Meoo?! Oh, you're so cute!"

"G-go got-gotta!"

"MARK MY WORDS LAHIFFE, I'M GONNA FIND OUT HER NAME IF ITS THE LAST THING I DO!"

Nino held his hat down with his hand as he hurried out of the door. Alya's voice followed him down the street and made him blush so much harder that his cheeks were practically glowing. Wayzz groaned as he clung onto Nino's hair and felt sick to his stomach at the jostling.   
Marinette picked up the baking tray full of Rena Rouge themed cakes that her father had just finished baking and slid them into the display case. They were orange with chocolate chip eats and a black triangle with rounded edges for a nose.

"It's mean to pick on him like that, especially when you know he likes you," Marinette warned.

"Yeah, I know, but it’s so funny," Alya grinned over her shoulder.

"Meanie," Marinette chuckled.

"I'll make it up to him later," Alya shrugged. She lifted a fox-themed cupcake from the display and examined it from below, smiling at the Rena Rouge logo on the cake case. Marinette smiled to herself as she slipped Alya's money into the till. Alya grinned at her. "Ready to eat the dust me and Luigi leave behind?"

"Ha, yeah, like you and Luigi could beat Princess Peach and me!" Marinette scoffed.

"Oh bring on that rainbow road and let me prove you wrong!" Alya said.

She took a dramatic bite of the cake as she turned to head towards the stairs to the games console. Marinette trusted Alya to go upstairs and set up the game console and chairs by herself. She'd eat her cake and move the sofa to the side, so they could sit next to one another and hit each other when the other threw blue shells.

Blue shells, incidentally, lined the path between the reception area and the first set of tanks at the aquarium. Along the room there was limited lighting. The deeper in they went the darker things got, and the only lights came from the tanks. Nino dared to move Wayzz from under his hat to his shoulder and made a mental note to start wearing jackets and pockets. For now, though the low light and distracting sharks made it easy to keep Wayzz out of sight. Soft blue lit a wall that was almost entirely made of glass and filled with sharks. They passed tubes lit up in red, yellow, purple and green filled with seahorses bobbing up and down, who's sleepy glow was the only light in the room.  
Apart from the quiet whale music and the bubbling of tank filters, the only sounds were footsteps and soft voices brimming with wonder. Every face was watching the fish in so much awe no one noticed the damp and stale fishy smell hanging thinly in the air. Especially when they entered the touch area. It was a large and fairly shallow (for an aquarium) circle tank in the centre of the room, with a sloping ramp curling around it to let people at different heights line along the tank, although there were boxes to step up onto along the flat ground.  
Wayzz curled closer against Nino's neck, trying to stay out of sight here. This room had more visitors in it than any other in the area, so was more dangerous, especially with dozens of kids rushing around their legs. Both of them hurried through this area until they found what they had been looking for.

Paris aquarium had a tank full of turtles that took up an entire room and had walls of glass to peer through. Turtles roamed freely inside, glistening in the shimmering light as they went. Some of them were longer than Nino and made him feel small but filled him with awe. They moved with grace and dignity, like they were full of ancient wisdom. Wayzz's jaw dropped.

"Wow..."

Nino smiled at the gasp from beside his ear. Quietly- because he felt foolish talking seemingly to himself in public - he asked, "Can you see ok? You can always sit on my hat if you want."

"I can see very well Master Nino. Thank you," Wayzz said.

Nino flinched. "Yeah I've been thinking about that..."

"Pardon me master, but about what?" Wayzz asked, not looking away from the turtles.

"About you calling me master," Nino said.

"I don't wish to call you dude," Wayzz said.

"It’s all cool little buddy, listen, what if you call me Monsieur Nino?" he suggested.

Wayzz’s eyebrows (did he have eyebrows?) furrowed and made him look confused. "Monsieur Nino?"

"Yeah! It's pretty much the same, but it sounds more equal," Nino said, uncertainly.

Wayzz looked up at Nino. in the blue light he looked even wiser, "will that make you more comfortable?"

"It will if it makes you more comfortable," Nino nodded.

"Then I will endeavour to remember that," Wayzz promised.

Nino grinned. "Awesome sauce!"

Wayzz gave him a baffled look. this boy was compassionate and smart and kind, and yet he said things like awesome sauce and called everyone dude. The two things seemed like polar opposites to Wayzz, and yet, there they were in one boy. In his master – no, in Monsieur Nino. he wasn’t Master Fu, that was obvious, and yet he could be just as good, if not better than him. if given a real chance. Wayzz moved from his shoulder up onto the brim on his baseball cap. He was maybe an inch closer to the glass, but it was the tiny act of trust that made Nino smile.  
they ended up staying in this area, with Wayzz staring at the turtle tank until the aquarium shut. It gave Nino time to sit on a bench behind him, leaving his hat on the shelf like area that children could sit on to watch the turtles, to keep Wayzz hidden. Nino took a photo of the tank just as a turtle moved by, and spent a good hour trying to draw Wayzz in. with his lack of drawing skills, it wasn’t expertly a wonderful drawing. He looked like he’d been added in in felt tip, but Nino knew if he kept practicing he could get to Master Fu’s level. But since he didn’t have a lot of time between home, friends, school, DJing, and now guardian lessons, he was keenly aware that his school books were going to end up looking more like Nathanael’s soon.   
Wayzz didn’t mind hiding under Nino’s hat so much on the walk home. He was beginning to feel a little more comfortable with this baffling boy after today. It’d been years since he’d seen turtles like him. he’d almost forgotten there were others. Nino gave him time to remember he wasn’t alone. There were kwamis, there was Ladybug and Chat Noir, and there were turtles.  
And there was Nino.

“Sorry I wasted your time today, Monsieur Nino,” Wayzz sighed as they wandered into his apartment block.

“What'd you mean? We had an awesome day!” Nino grinned.

“We just stayed in the aquarium for hours, staring at the turtles!” Wayzz argued.

“Yeah but you enjoyed it. Time spent enjoying yourself is not wasted,” Nino said, stubbornly.

Wayzz smiled. maybe the boy was wise. And then the door shut, and they climbed into the lift, and while they were alone, Nino suddenly asked, "Do you think I could pull off cargo pants?"

And Wayzz thought, maybe he wasn’t so wise. "I'm sorry, what are they?"

"They're baggy trousers with big pockets. D’you think I'd look good in them?" Nino asked.

"I honestly don't know. Why, if I may ask?" Wayzz asked.

"I'm thinking you can't stay under my hat.”

"I agree."

"So baggy pockets on my leg would be safer and more comfortable for you, right?"

"I believe so, if you do. But what if you don't- what did you say?" Wayzz asked.

"Pull them off?" Nino offered.

Wayzz nodded, "Ah, yes, that."

"Then I'll suffer. If I try wearing a jacket I'll forget within a week, or it'll get too hot and I'll get dehydrated, but I'll force myself to carry on. After all I can't carry a bag everywhere,"

Nino shrugged.

"I don’t see why not," Wayzz said.

"Its not the social norm, people would stare," Nino explained.

"Ah. We certainly don't want that," Wayzz agreed.

"That leaves cargo pants," Nino said.

"You will wear them for a nobel reason. Those who care for you won't care what you wear. Some may even find it of use," Wayzz said.

"I'm gonna be a human purse. I can't wait," Nino grinned.

Wayzz chuckled to himself. Nino was imagining Alya pushing her phone charger and things into his chest for him to pocket and keep safe while she went racing after akumas on her bike. It was funny to him. All those months she spent gathering information on them, and he'd still know more by the end of the week than she did.

"Shall we try mixing one more time, before we start studying?" Nino asked.

"Sounds good," Wayzz smiled.

Nino dashed to the DJ booth. He dropped a scratched old LP onto the deck, so it wouldn’t matter if Wayzz scratched it falling over. He set himself on the edge of the LP, and centred himself carefully, to stop himself falling.

"Ready?" Nino asked.

"Ready," Wayzz nodded.

If you've ever seen the end of Night at The Museum with the little Cowboy and his Roman boyfriend dancing on the record, you could imagine how Wayzz was dancing. Swinging his hips back and forth, low and wide with the movement of the record to avoid falling. Nino laughed proudly as Wayzz managed to stay upright.

"You rock little dude!" He beamed.

Wayzz beamed back, pleased, but the mild distraction was too much, and he fell. Nino rushed to help him back to his feet. Both were laughing.

From where he sat on the rooftop across the road watching the scene, Chat Noir smiled to himself. He had chosen wisely, and his friend was happy because of it.  
Things were going to start getting a lot more interesting from now on.


End file.
